Folding table.



A. HAHN.

FOLDING TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. 1916.

1,239,739., I Patented D06. 31, 1918.

I v M 76% By Attorney,

wm f 4 ALEXANDER HAHN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING TABLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 28, 1916. Serial No. 121,702.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER HAHN, a citizen 'of the United States ofAmerica, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented -certain new and useful Improvements inFolding Tables, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to folding fumiture, and particularly tables,such as are frequently used for card tables, and so designated in thetrade. The object of the invention is to provide a strong and durabletable of light construction, and one which can be placed upon the'marketand retailed at a moderate price; also, to provide a table which can besafely and economically shipped by parcels 0st, and one which can bereadily carried a out by hand for use.

The various structural features can .best be pointed out when describingthe invention in connection with the drawin The drawings accompanyingthls application illustrate one form of practicable embodiment of theinvention as applied to a card table of lightweight construction, inwhich drawings,

Figure 1 is a top view ofa table equipped with my invention, partlybroken away and partlyshown in horizontal section, one of the legs beingrepresented in its open position and the otherlegs closed;

Fig.2 is a section of Fig. 1 taken at about the plane of the line 22.The line 11 in Fig. 2 indicates the plane of the section of Fig. 1; and

Fig.- 3 is a detail of the plane of a section of Fig. 2 showing a leg ina. different position.

- The illustrated table is shown as having a square top and fourfoldable legs. The top 5 in the present illustration is assumed to besome flexible or yielding material, such as fiber board. The edges ofthe top material are shown bent over and secured between a dependentframing member hand an outer finishing strip 7. This frame in partsupports the top, but this, when made of thin material for economy andlightness, requires a certain amount of bracing, which is afforded inthe present illustration by a swastika-shaped truss comprising two crossbars or members 8 secured to the under side of the top and crossing atthe center thereof. The outer or transverse arms of the swastika-shapedframe are designated by turn and move it to its open position.

the reference characters 9, and are also se-v screw 12, passing throughthe frame memher 9 through the top of the leg and into the frame member6. Suitable spacers 13 areillustrated at the sides of the leg.

The brace 11 for'holding the legs securely in their extended positionand for holding them in their folded position comprises a. spring wirebent at its center and held to the leg at a suitable distance from thepivoted end by means of a bearing plate 14. The side wires are shownprovided with transversely outwardlyextending bent ends or lugs 15 whichrespectively ride in grooves 16 cut in the opposing faces of the members9 and. 6. Each ofthese members is provided with a recess, in the presentinstance merely a bored hole, 17, for receiving thebent-over ends 15when the leg assumes its full open position, in the present illustra-Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

The leg is tion perpendicular to the plane of thetable top.

The elasticity of the brace 11 is relied upon to hold the ends 15 in thegroove. When it is desired to close the le th e operator grasps both ofthe wires wit h1s hand and squeezes the ends toward each other.

In ordinary practice considerable care would have to be exercised tosqueeze both wires equally and not flex either sutficiently to withdrawit from the slot 16 at the time it is withdrawn from the recess 17. Toguard against this a back stop 18 is provided between the recesses 17,so that the operator may readily take hold of both wires and flex themuntil they are arrested by the stop, whereupon the leg may then .bemoved to position.

When it is desired to open the table the operator preferably puts it insubstantially the position it occupies in Fig. 1, having the legs awayfrom him and the top 5 toward him. He will thereupon take each 1%? inthe lugs 15 arriving at the recesses 17 t ey 2 limit the inward movementof the leg.

The pivot screw 12 acts to securely connect the free end of thetransverse member 9 of the swastika frame with the frame member 6 of thetable top. The outer ends of the center or crossed members 8 abutagainst the inner side faces of the adjacent transverse members 9 of theswastika, and such members 8 receive in a longitudinal directionpressure applied to the outer side faces of the transverse members 9 bythe spring action of the brace member 11. Such spring action would havea tendency to displace the member 9 were this not in closeengagementwith the center member 8. A table of this character is frequently in aclosed position for longer periods than it is in an open position, andthe above described structure adds greatly to the lasting qualities ofthe table. When the table is in an open position the brace engagesthemember 9 about midway between the point at which such brace receivessupport from the member 8 and the pivot screw 12. This feature also addsto the enduring qualities of the table.

What I claim is 1. In a folding table, the combination with a table tophaving at its underside a rectangular outer frame and an inner frame ofthe sidemember of the inner frame and adapted to fold along such sideinto the said free space and when sov folded extending beyond the otherend of such side, each leg being located in such relation to the innerframe as to afford a space for the free end of the adjacent leg whenthis is folded.

2. In a folding table, the combination with a table top having at itsedge a dependent frame, a swastika shaped trusssecured to the under sideof said table top and having its transverse members disposed parallelwith, but spaced apart from the said dependent frame, a leg pivotedbetween the free end of the said transverse. member and the adjacentdependent frame member, and a brace pivoted to the leg and comprising apair of spring arms, there being grooves in the opposing faces of theframe and truss members, and the ends of said arms being bent outwardlyfor traversing the said grooves, and recesses in said groovesforreceiving holding the leg in its open position, the arms of the bracebeing of such relative proportions that upon the leg assuming its closedposition the free ends of the brace assume a position in substantialalinement with the crossed members of the swastika frame.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name this 22 day ofSeptember,

ALEXANDER HAHN.

the said outward extensions and"

